The story centers on the Su family in rural southern Anhui and tells the story of brothers Su Mingqiang, born in 1988, and Su Mingjun, born in 1990, who struggled to grow up in poverty, suffering, and perseverance. His father, Su Dajiang (born in 1952), was short in stature and illiterate. He married Ling Xiuying (born in 1962), who was ten years younger than him, through marriage exchange. Both of them were illiterate and were trapped in poverty throughout their lives. Su Dajiang went to work in the Shengsi Islands for ten years. He became ill due to overwork and suffered a back injury. He frugally saved all his hard-earned money and sent all his hard-earned money home. He died suddenly during the epidemic in 2020; Ling Xiuying guarded the Botian and raised her two sons, suffering all the suffering in the world. Su Mingqiang dropped out of junior high school and joined the army for eight years. After demobilization, he worked several low-level jobs. He married a wife who was eight years older than his father-in-law and was rejected by his in-laws. He finally became a social worker in Mingzhou. Su Mingjun dropped out of junior high school and worked for nearly 20 years, settling down in a garment factory to start a family. The two brothers walked from the mountains in southern Anhui to the city. There were no earth-shattering achievements, only the glimmer of ordinary people gritting their teeth and moving forward despite suffering. They were like the epitome of millions of rural families in China.
